Main

About John Doppler

From the sunny California beaches where he washed ashore in 2008, John Doppler scrawls tales of science fiction, urban fantasy, and horror -- and investigates self-publishing services as the Alliance of Independent Authors's Watchdog. John relishes helping authors turn new opportunities into their bread and butter and offers terrific resources for indie authors at Words on Words. He shares his lifelong passion for all things weird and wonderful on The John Doppler Effect.

ALLi’s Watchdog Desk has received over twenty complaints of Blasty failing to respond to customer service inquiries, failing to honor cancellation requests, and continuing to charge customer credit cards and bank accounts after cancellation. Some complainants felt they had no other recourse than to cancel their credit cards, or file fraud claims with their banks.

The harsh reality is that many of us rack our uncooperative brains for weeks in a fruitless search for a title. And when divine inspiration doesn’t appear and we’re nearing the point of desperation, we clutch at a semi-random title that feels only mediocre. We settle. But if you’re in that latter category, take heart: […]

Unsure of the best distribution strategy for your books – to go exclusive with KDP Select or to go wide with other distribution platforms? John Doppler explains the concepts, with helpful input from Mark Coker and Joanna Penn.

Wondering how to choose the best distributors and distribution platforms for your self-published books? Can’t decide where to go direct and where to use an aggregator? Nor even sure what an aggregator is? This short post will help you.

ALLi’s Self-Publishing Watchlist highlights companies whose complaints are on the rise. We monitor these companies carefully, and upgrade or downgrade their ratings as circumstances change. This month, we examine two substandard publishers who specifically target Christian lit and authors. Companies that cloak themselves in the mantle of religion are nothing new, but they’ve found a […]